Sprinkler head mounting means

ABSTRACT

Mounting means comprises three major components, an upright sleeve fastened to a conduit member, a nipple rotatable within the sleeve, and a body secured to the top of the nipple and carrying the sprinkler head. The lower end of the nipple has an enlarged shoulder to prevent upward separation from the sleeve and to apply thrust against a set of sealing washers surrounding the nipple and urged against the lower end of the sleeve. A shroud ring surrounds the upper end of the sleeve and the lower end of the body to completely enclose the gap between them and prevent ingress of abrasive particles and other contaminants. The ring is made of imperforate elastic material and is placed in position in axial compression to urge the body and nipple upward with respect to the sleeve and maintain resilient thrust on the washers and keep them in sealing contact at all times.

United States Patent [191 Costa et al.

[ Oct. 9, 1973 SPRINKLER HEAD MOUNTING MEANS [75] Inventors: Robert B.Costa, Covina; William J.

Wichman, Glendora; Norman D. Morgan, Pasadena, all of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp.,

Glendora, Calif.

[22] Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 244,827

[52] US. Cl 239/230, 239/233, 239/264, 285/14, 285/229 [51] Int. Cl B05b3/06 [58] Field of Search 285/13, 14, 45, 98, 285/229; 239/230-233, 264'[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,986,410 5/1961 Norland239/230 X 2,582,158 1/1952 Porter 239/232 X 3,089,713 5/1963Scaranucci..... 285/14 2,918,220 12/1959 Crow 239/231 3,204,873 9/1965Senninger.. 239/230 582,575 5/1897 Bayles 285/229 Primary Examiner-M.Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-John J. Love Attorney-Warren L.Patton [5 7] ABSTRACT Mounting means comprises three major components,an upright sleeve fastened to a conduit member, a nipple rotatablewithin the sleeve, and a body secured to the top of the nipple andcarrying the sprinkler head. The lower end of the nipple has an enlargedshoulder to prevent upward separation from the sleeve and to applythrust against a set of sealing washers surrounding the nipple and urgedagainst the lower end of the sleeve. A shroud ring surrounds the upperend of the sleeve and the lower end of the body to completely enclosethe gap between them and prevent ingress of abrasive particles and othercontaminants. The ring is made of imperforate elastic material and isplaced in position in axial compression to urge the body and nippleupward with respect to the sleeve and maintain resilient thrust on thewashers and keep them in sealing contact at all times.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 9, 1973 i y, w

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention lies in the field ofsprinkling devices and has particular utility in connection withagricultural operations. A type of sprinkling device to which theinvention may be applied is widely sold under the Rain Bird trademarkand consists generally of a sleeve which is usually fixedly connected toa conduit member to stand in a generally upright position, a nipplerotatably mounted inthe sleeve and provided with a shoulder atits-lowerend to prevent upward separation of the nipple, and a body which usuallyconstitutes the lower portion of a sprinkler head and is secured to theupper end of the nipple to rotate therewith.

The sprinkler head is provided with a nozzle directed at an upward angleto distribute water over a wide area as the head rotates. An impact ordrive arm is mounted on top of the head for rotation about the axis ofthe nipple and has at one end an impact or drive vane adapted to'intermittently move into the path of the stream of water issuing fromthe nozzle and be diverted thereby. As it swings cyclically, the armcontacts an abutment on the sprinkler head and gradually rotates thehead to spread the stream over a large arcuate area.

A seal is provided between the nipple shoulder and the lower end of thesleeve to prevent the supply water from entering between the nipple andsleeve. This is required to prevent general leakage and waste of waterbut more importantly to keep out grit and dissolved chemicals whichwould rapidly wear out the long bearing contact between the nipple andthe sleeve. There. is a radial or axial gap or both between the upperend of the sleeve and the lower end of the body because the latter mustrotate freely with respect to the former in order to perform itsfunction.

The presently used construction is generally satisfactory forresidential use because of light duty requirements. Generally, only asingle such sprinkler is used for a residential lawn, or several widelyspaced ones for larger areas and they areoperated only intermittentlyfor short periods. Moreover, they are normally connected to theresidential drinking water supply which has a low level of abrasivesubstances and chemical contaminants. The conventional sealing means isadequate to'prevent undue wear for years, and there is very littlelikelihood of the entry of abrasive materials through the gap at theupper end of the sleeve.

On the other hand, in agricultural operations, it is not uncommon to usesprinklers practically twenty four hours per day for weeks or months asthey are moved from one area to another to greatly reduce the numberwhich the farmer must own. The relatively untreated agricultural waterwhich is frequently used contains much more abrasive and chemicalmaterial than domestic drinking water, and hence a given amount ofleakage will cause much more damage. Once the bearing areas between thenipple and sleeve begin to wear, their axes begin to diverge and preventgood seating of the seals, which results in an acceleration of the ratesof leakage and wear.

It is common to use a large number of sprinklers in a given area and tospace them close enough so that the precipitation from one sprinklerreaches the next sprinkler or a point close thereto in order to insurethat every portion of the ground is adequately watered. The result isthat muddy water is constantly being splashed against every sprinklerand thus finds its way into the gap at the top of the sleeve. This watercontains a high level of abrasive particles, chemical which were alreadyin the water, and also chemicals which were utilized in the fertilizingprocess. Hence, the bearing areas between the nipple and sleeve areattacked from the top as well as the bottom and the rate of wearisundesirably high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The sealing means of the present inventionovercome the difficulties mentioned above and provide a simple assemblywhich protects the bearing area between the nipple and the sleeve atboth ends and. has very few parts which are readily installed and arethemselves highly resistant to wear or damage. Generally stated, thelower seal group includes a first, resilient, high friction elastomericbackup washer, which may be natural or synthetic rubber, which tits onthe shank of the nipple and is in direct contact with its shoulder. Asecond sacrificial wear washer of plastic material having low frictionis assembled on the nipple next to the backup washer and rotates withit. A third slip washer of plastic material having low friction alsosurrounds the shank of the nipple but is secured to the lower end of thesleeve and remains stationary therewith, so that the rotating seal isbetween the two plastic washers. The coefficient of friction of theplastic washers is selected to produce the desired resistance torotation of the sprinkler head.

The upper end of the sleeve is adjacent to the lower end of the bodywhich is secured to the upper end of the nipple. There may be a radialor axial gap or bothbetween the body and the sleeve since the body mustrotate freely with the nipple. A shroud ring of imperforate, highfriction elastomeric material, such as natural or synthetic rubber,engages the upper end of the sleeve and the lower end of the body tocompletely enclose the gap between them and prevent ingress of anyforeign matter. The shroud ring maybe frictionally se cured by eitherone of its ends to either one of. these components while its oppositeend is provided with a low friction collar which is in rotary sealingengagement with the other component. In some cases a collar may be usedat each end.

The shroud ring has a dual purpose. In addition to protecting the gapbetween the sleeve and the body, it is mounted in axial compression andresiliently urges the body upward with respect to the sleeve. This inturn produces a constant upward thrust force by the nipple shoulderagains the washersto compress them between the shoulder and the lowerend of the sleeve. Consequently they are in sealing engagement when thewater is turned on, and the initial flow finds no leakage path betweenthem. In the event that there is any angular play between the nipple andthe sleeve, it is accommodated by the resilience of the backup washer sothat there is no possiblity of even momentary sealing disengagement ofthe two plastic washers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Various other advantages and featuresof novelty will become apparent as the description proceeds inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical sprinkling deviceincorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in section showing details of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the shroud ring; and FIG. 4 is adetailed view of the portion 4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A typical sprinkling apparatus towhich the present invention is adapted to be applied is illustrated inFIG. 1, in which an upright sleeve is mounted to an upright conduitmember 12 such as a pipe which may be connected to an undergroundconduit system or mounted on a movable support and connected to a hoseor the like. A hollow body component 14, rotatably mounted on sleeve 10,may be attached to or made integral with sprinkler head 16.

The sprinkler head is formed with an elongate nozzle body 18 extendingat a substantial angle to the vertical and provided at its end with anozzle 20 have a discharge orifice 22. A small diameter stream of waterissues from orifice 22 with high velocity to carry a great distance fromthe nozzle. In order to cover a large arcuate area, which may be a fullcircle, the sprinkler head rotates about the upright axis of sleeve 10.To cause the rotation, an impact or drive arm 24 is mounted on top ofthe sprinkler head for rotation about an upright axis and is journaledbetween the head and bridge 26 which may be integral with the head. Arm24 is provided at one end with an impact or drive member 28 which movesintermittently into the path of the water stream and is divertedthereby. The water contact and torsion spring 30 cause the arm to swingcyclically, and the arm repeatedly strikes the bridge and causes thesprinkler head to gradually rotate and spread the stream over a largearea.

The details of the pivotal mounting and sealing means for the sprinklerhead are illustrated in FIG. 2. Sleeve 10, provided with tool engagingformation 32, is tightly secured to conduit member 12 by means of pipethreads 34. Nipple 36 has a cylindrical shank 38 journaled in thecylindrical inner wall 40 of the sleeve and extends beyond both ends ofthe sleeve. The first, lower, end of the nipple is provided with anenlarged radially extending shoulder 42 which prevents upward separationof the nipple from the sleeve, and the second, upper, end is providedwith an attachment formation which may be external thread 44 adapted forfixed engagement with an internal thread 46 in the body. Thus the bodyand nipple are effectively unitary and rotatable in sleeve 10.

Ingress of supply water to the bearing area between the walls of thesleeve and nipple is prevented by a special group of washers including abackup washer 48, a sacrificial 'wear washer 50, and a slip washer 52.The backup washer is flexible and resilient and has a relatively highcoefficient of friction, and is preferably formed of an elastomer whichmay be natural or synthetic rubber. It fits on shank 38 and seatsagainst shoulder 42. Because of its high friction value it becomesnon-rotatably secured to the nipple. Wear washer 50 may be formed ofplastic material and is somewhat flexible but far less so than washer 48and has a low coefficient of friction, at least on the face whichconfronts washer 52. It is held non-rotatably by contact with washer 48.

The slip washer 52 is preferably formed of plastic material which isslightly flexible and has a low coefficient of friction. This washer,instead of being flat, has an angular cross section and includes anaxial cylindrical wall 54, which is a press fit in counterbore 56 at thelower end of the sleeve, and a radially outwardly extending flange 58having a planar confronting face for rotary sliding engagement with thewear washer, both of the confronting faces being very smooth. Thematerials of these two washers are selected to produce a predetermineddegree of frictional resistance to rotation of the nipple in the sleeveso that the sprinkler head 16 will remain substantially stationary asthe drive arm is rotated against the torsion of the spring but will beslightly rotated in response to impact of the drive arm against thebridge. To accomplish this end it is presently preferred to use ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene for the wear washer and polyurethanefor the slip washer. A feature of this combination is that the slipwasher has a much higher degree of wear resistance than the wear washer.Since a small amount of supply water gradually works its way through theseal there will be some eventual wear, and most of this is taken by thesacrificial wear washer, which is relatively inexpensive and easy toreplace.

It will be seen that in the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the upper end60 of the sleeve is axially spaced from the lower end 62 of the body todefine a small axial gap of predetermined size which, among other thingsprevents dragging contact of the body on the sleeve and resistance torotation. In the absence of protection, this gap is subject to splashingof muddy water which would work its way into the bearing area betweenthe nipple and the sleeve and cause rapid wear. This is prevented by theprovision of the shroud ring 64 which is symmetrical in shape and has abulging midsection and substantially cylindrical end portions 66 withslightly divergent inner walls, the angle of divergence being about 5.End 62 of body 14 has a correspondingly tapered outer wall 68 and aradially outwardly extending shoulder 70 spaced axially from the extremeend of the body 14. The shroud ring is formed of flexible imperforateelastomeric material having a relatively high coefficient of friction,and its end portion is so sized that it is a press fit'on outer wall 68with its end face 72 in contact with shoulder 70. With its highcoefficient of friction, it thus becomes frictionally secured to thebody to rotate therewith. A suitable shroud ring material having verygood weather resistance and elasticity is ethylene propylene dienemonomer.

The upper end 60 of sleeve 10 is formed with a cylindrical outer wall 74and with a radially outwardly extending shoulder 76 spaced axially fromits extreme end margin. The shroud ring incorporates at its lower end alow-friction collar 78 having a radially outwardly extending flange 82,and an axial wall 80 tapered to match the taper of end portion 66. Whenthe shroud ring is assembled in place, flange 82 of collar 78 contactsshoulder 76 and wall 80 contacts wall 74 to providea rotatable slidingseal with the sleeve, and block ingress of any muddy water or othercontaminant.

The same basic result will be achieved if shroud ring 64 is frictionallysecured to the end 60 of sleeve 10, and the collar 78 rotatably andslidably engages wall 68 and shoulder 70 of body 14 since the seal isstill complete. However it is presently preferred to use theconfiguration shown because of the fixed sealing connection between theshroud ring and the body in frictional engagement. In some cases theshroud ring may incorporate a low-friction collar at each end.

Shroud ring 64 performs a dual function because, in addition topreventing ingress of contaminants to the gap between sleeve and body14, it also insures integrity of the seal at the lower end of nipple 36.The ring is elastic and of sufficient axial length that when it isplaced in position between sleeve 10 and body 14 it is under apre-determined amount of axial compression. It therefore appliesresilient axial pressure to shoulder 70 of end portion 62 and shoulder76 of end portion 60. Since sleeve 10 is stationary, the effect. is toresiliently urge body 14 and nipple 36 upwardly, creating a resilientthrust pressure on washers 48, 50, and 52, and maintaining them insealing engagement at all times. While the water pressure in a flowingsystem would push nipple 36 upward, its weight would lower sprinklingapparatus, with a minimum of moving parts it under no-flow conditionsand allow the seal to open.

shroud ring precludes this possibility.

The gap between upper end 60 of the sleeve and lower end 62 of the bodyis large enough axially for adequate manufacturing tolerance but smallenough to facilitate other functions, and may be from about 1/16 inch toabout is inch. in any event, it should be less than one half of thecompression range of the shroud ring. When the sprinkler is moved aboutover rough terrain body 14 is repeatedly forced down by inertia relativeto sleeve 10. if the gap is large, there will be undue flexure of theshroud ring, causing it to crack and fail prematurely. With the smallgap disclosed, ends 60 and 62 contact almost immediately and preventexcessive flexure of the shroud ring. Since end 60 extends above wall 80of collar 78 as shown, it presents a longer flow path for wear particlesto reach the gap. In addition, it defines between itself and the shroudring a reservoir 84 to retain a substantial quantity of wear particlesand prevent them from reaching the gap.

As indicated previously, in the course of time a minare amount ofseepage will gradually build up a quantity of water under pressurewithin the shroud ring 64. This water must eventually escape and, if nopath is provided, it will force end portions 66 of the shroud ringcompletely out of engagement and provide a permanently open path forcontaminants to enter. Topreclude this possiblity, a generally radialflow path for leakage under pressure is provided.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, at least one radial groove 86 is providedin at least one end face 72 of the shroud ring. When seepage waterpressure builds up within the shroud ring, it will forcean end portion66 radially out of contact with either wall 68 or wall 80 by a minuteamount. If no escape is provided, one or both of the end portions willbe gradually forced out radially to such an extent that it will slippast the confronting shoulder and be lodged in a position providing aninlet flow path for contaminants. However, when one or more grooves 86are provided, as soon as an end portion 66 is radially displacedsufficiently for water to seep past it, this water will find a flow pathfor escape through one of the grooves 86, relieving the pressure andallowing the end portion to return to complete sealing position.

It will be apparent from the disclosure presented herein that thepresent invention provides a novel and practical solution to the problemof sprinkler leakage which produces excessive wear in the components ofa and with superior long term durability.

We claim:

1. Mounting means for a sprinkler head comprising:

a first component in the form of an elongate sleeve having means at afirst, lower, end for connection to a supporting conduit member to standin a generally upright attitude;

a second component in the form of an elongate nipple rotatably mountedin the sleeve and extending beyond the ends of the sleeve;

a third component in the form of a hollow body fixedly secured to thelower portion of a sprinkler head and provided with means for fixedengagement with said nipple to retainthe components in assembledrelation;

the second, upper, end of the sleeve being spaced from the adjacentportion of the body to define a gap of predetermined extent, and theadjacent ends of the body and sleeve .components being axially spacedfrom each other and having smooth annular outer walls with radiallyoutwardly extending shoulders axially spaced from the extreme endmargins, at least one of the shouldered walls diverging from its extremeend margin;

a shroud ring of flexible imperforate material surrounding the upper endof the sleeve and the lower end of the body and in sealing engagementwith each to completely enclose the gap between them and prevent ingressof contaminants, the inner walls of the end portion of said ring havingangles of divergence corresponding to those of said shouldered walls,said ring having a relatively high coefficient of friction tonon-rotatably secure one end to said divergent wall;

and a low friction collar connected to the opposite end of the shroudring and shaped to conform to the other shouldred wall for rotatablesealing engagement.

2. Mounting means as claimed in claim 1, in which the axial gap formedby the adjacent ends of the body and sleeve is less than one half of theaxial compression range of the shroud ring.

3. Mounting means as claimed in claim 1; in which at least one end ofthe shroud ring is provided with at least one small radial flow path forthe escape of seepage water under pressure from within the shroud ring.v

4. Mounting means for a sprinkler head comprising a first component inthe form of an elongate sleeve having means at a first, lower, end forconnection to a supporting conduit member to stand in a generallyupright attitude;

a second component in the form of an 'elongate nipple rotatably mountedin the sleeve and extending beyond the ends of the sleeve;

the lower end of the nipple having a radially enlarged shoulder toprevent upward separation of the nipple from the sleeve, and the upperend having an attachment formation;

a third component in the form of a hollow body fixedly secured to thelower portion of a sprinkler head and provided with means for fixedengagement with the attachment formation on the nipple to retain thecomponents in assembled relation;

a plurality of washers surrounding the lower end of the nipple andarranged between the nipple shoulder and the lower end of the sleeve toseal against ingress of contaminants between the nipple and the sleeveand to provide a predetermined degree of frictional resistance torotation of the nipple in the sleeve;

the second, upper, end of the sleeve being spaced from the adjacentportion of the body to define a gap of predetermined extent, theadjacent ends of the body and sleeve components being axially spacedfrom each other and having smooth annular outer walls with radiallyoutwardly extending shoulders axially spaced from the extreme endmargins, at least one of the shouldered walls diverging from its extremeend margin;

a shroud ring of flexible imperforate material surrounding the upper endof the sleeve and the lower end of the body and in sealing engagementwith each to completely enclose the gap between them and prevent ingressof contaminants, the inner walls of the end portions of said ring havingangles of divergence corresponding to those of said shouldered walls,said ring having a relatively high coefficient of friction tonon-rotatably secure one end to said divergent wall;

and a low friction collar connected to the opposite end of the shroudring and shaped to conform to the other shouldered wall for rotatablesealing engagement.

5. Mounting means as claimed in claim 4; in which the collar has anangular cross section with an axial wall externally tapered to match theinternal taper of the shroud ring end portion and to be nonrotatablysecured therein, and a radially outwardly extending flange to serve as ashoulder and engage the shoulder on its respective component.

6. Mounting means as claimed in claim 4; in which at least one end faceof the shroud ring is provided with at least one small radial groove toprovide a flow path for release of leakage water under pressure fromwithin the shroud ring.

7. Mounting means as claimed in claim 4; in which the shroud ring isbulged outward between its ends to define an annular enclosed space;

and the upper end of the sleeve extends upward a substantial distanceabove the lower end of the shroud ring to define therewith a reservoirto trap and retain wear particles at a location spaced from the gapbetween the sleeve and the body.

1. Mounting means for a sprinkler head comprising: a first component inthe form of an elongate sleeve having means at a first, lower, end forconnection to a supporting conduit member to stand in a generallyupright attitude; a second component in the form of an elongate nipplerotatably mounted in the sleeve and extending beyond the ends of thesleeve; a third component in the form of a hollow body fixedly securedto the lower portion of a sprinkler head and provided with means forfixed engagement with said nipple to retain the components in assembledrelation; the second, upper, end of the sleeve being spaced from theadjacent portion of the body to define a gap of predetermined extent,and the adjacent ends of the body and sleeve components being axiallyspaced from each other and having smooth annular outer waLls withradially outwardly extending shoulders axially spaced from the extremeend margins, at least one of the shouldered walls diverging from itsextreme end margin; a shroud ring of flexible imperforate materialsurrounding the upper end of the sleeve and the lower end of the bodyand in sealing engagement with each to completely enclose the gapbetween them and prevent ingress of contaminants, the inner walls of theend portion of said ring having angles of divergence corresponding tothose of said shouldered walls, said ring having a relatively highcoefficient of friction to non-rotatably secure one end to saiddivergent wall; and a low friction collar connected to the opposite endof the shroud ring and shaped to conform to the other shouldred wall forrotatable sealing engagement.
 2. Mounting means as claimed in claim 1,in which the axial gap formed by the adjacent ends of the body andsleeve is less than one half of the axial compression range of theshroud ring.
 3. Mounting means as claimed in claim 1; in which at leastone end of the shroud ring is provided with at least one small radialflow path for the escape of seepage water under pressure from within theshroud ring.
 4. Mounting means for a sprinkler head comprising a firstcomponent in the form of an elongate sleeve having means at a first,lower, end for connection to a supporting conduit member to stand in agenerally upright attitude; a second component in the form of anelongate nipple rotatably mounted in the sleeve and extending beyond theends of the sleeve; the lower end of the nipple having a radiallyenlarged shoulder to prevent upward separation of the nipple from thesleeve, and the upper end having an attachment formation; a thirdcomponent in the form of a hollow body fixedly secured to the lowerportion of a sprinkler head and provided with means for fixed engagementwith the attachment formation on the nipple to retain the components inassembled relation; a plurality of washers surrounding the lower end ofthe nipple and arranged between the nipple shoulder and the lower end ofthe sleeve to seal against ingress of contaminants between the nippleand the sleeve and to provide a predetermined degree of frictionalresistance to rotation of the nipple in the sleeve; the second, upper,end of the sleeve being spaced from the adjacent portion of the body todefine a gap of predetermined extent, the adjacent ends of the body andsleeve components being axially spaced from each other and having smoothannular outer walls with radially outwardly extending shoulders axiallyspaced from the extreme end margins, at least one of the shoulderedwalls diverging from its extreme end margin; a shroud ring of flexibleimperforate material surrounding the upper end of the sleeve and thelower end of the body and in sealing engagement with each to completelyenclose the gap between them and prevent ingress of contaminants, theinner walls of the end portions of said ring having angles of divergencecorresponding to those of said shouldered walls, said ring having arelatively high coefficient of friction to non-rotatably secure one endto said divergent wall; and a low friction collar connected to theopposite end of the shroud ring and shaped to conform to the othershouldered wall for rotatable sealing engagement.
 5. Mounting means asclaimed in claim 4; in which the collar has an angular cross sectionwith an axial wall externally tapered to match the internal taper of theshroud ring end portion and to be non-rotatably secured therein, and aradially outwardly extending flange to serve as a shoulder and engagethe shoulder on its respective component.
 6. Mounting means as claimedin claim 4; in which at least one end face of the shroud ring isprovided with at least one small radial groove to provide a flow pathfor release of leakage water under pressure from within the shroud ring.7. Mounting means as claimed in claim 4; in which the shroud ring isbulged outward between its ends to define an annular enclosed space; andthe upper end of the sleeve extends upward a substantial distance abovethe lower end of the shroud ring to define therewith a reservoir to trapand retain wear particles at a location spaced from the gap between thesleeve and the body.